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The temporal and spatial variability of the marine atmospheric boundary layer and its effect on electromagnetic propagation in and around the Greenland Sea marginal ice zone

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Variability of the MABL and its effect on the electromagnetic (EM) refractive structure around the Greenland Sea marginal ice zone were examined. Rawinsonde profiles and surface observations collected from 3 ships during MIZEX-87(20 March-11 April) served as the data set. A program, developed to calculate the refractivity at each vertical level of the rawinsonde profiles, also identified the levels at which trapping, superrefraction and subrefraction occurred. Temporal studies showed that a higher incidence of anomalous refractive layers occurred during periods when the region was under the influence of high pressure. More than 50% of the time, trapping and super-refractive layers were attributed to development of a capping inversion just above the MABL during these periods. Spatial studies showed that the refractive structure varied relative to distance from the ice edge as did the depth of the MABL. An upward slope in refractive layer heights was observed from the ice toward the open water. Significant spatial inhomogeneity was observed over horizontal ranges of less than 100 km. This was attributed to both the large-scale synoptic forcing affecting the region and to variations in the surface fluxes of heat and moisture over the ice and over the water. A range-dependent ray trace model developed at the Naval Ocean Systems Center was used to show how the ray paths of EM waves vary with a changing refractive structures. Keywords: Air water interactions, Greenland Sea, Atmospheric refraction, Electromagnetic wave propagation, Heat flux, Sea ice. Theses. (EDC) / http://archive.org/details/temporalspatialv00grot / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:nps.edu/oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/23422
Date06 1900
CreatorsGroters, Douglas J.
ContributorsShaw, W.J., Davidson, Kenneth L., Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.), Meteorology
PublisherMonterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Source SetsNaval Postgraduate School
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf
RightsThis publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

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